I found this on ebay on an X19. It's a reminder of just how BAD things were for Fiat in the 80's. It's amazing its gotten over this. Do you think they saved a little money making the gauges? Image Unavailable, Please Login
I had one of these in the day. I loved the car and in the day driving it was pure heaven. But I must admit it was not reliable. The rubber bumpers that hold the front wheels in position. One side failed and the wheels turned inward and the gar stopped in a split second. A month later the other pumper on the left whell broke and the car almost flipped. My freind who I meet wednesday morning to talk cars is driving his every day. But things have change I have had three f cars and two lambos and they have been very good. Lee
Hey what's the big deal? Looks to me like it's just a custom option made for a professional hockey player?
A good friend of mine was a Fiat addict in the early to mid 1970's. I lost count of how many times we push started his 124 Sport Coupe. Maybe it's funny when you're 18. Another friend had an 850 Spider that was one of the most fun cars I've ever known. On a tight winding road where it was all about handling but you couldn't get up a lot of speed -- he could out run a Camaro. It was a flimsy car but i don't recall any major reliability issues. Of course nowadays an SUV would run right over you and not even notice a bump.
I would put the responsibility more on the instrument manufacturer than with Fiat. Then again, Fiat is ultimately responsible for the QC of any parts they use on their cars. Are these gages made by Veglia Borletti? BTW: I have seen a few drooping gauge pointers on Alfa Romeos that have sat outside for long periods in hot climates. At any rate maybe this was the owner's way of calibrating the gauges?
How bout sticky gooey plastic bits in Fiat's flagship offerings. Or crappy headers. Or crappy little altnators on certain flagship cars? The Ferrari list is just as long and ungodly more expensive. But then...it is a Ferrari...
My 1980 2000 had to have its doors locked, otherwise they would open outwards in a curve. Through which I drove many. The lock was the same handle as the door release; pull for open and push for lock. That car was simultaneously wonderful and awful. Black with tan. Matt
Yes this post brough back so many memories. I had freinds who owned these cars and they would do as you say or just not start. One of the guys would park his car on the hill so it could get a running start. These cars did drive wonderfully in the day. My freind owned a car towing company. He told me you could tell by the outside temperature which cars would not start and need help. The Fiat would be the first car not to start as the temperature began to dip. I just maintaned my car well with frequent tuneups and had minimal problems. I would replace BOTH wheel pumpers that is dangerous when they fail God luck Lee
There was a recall on the 70 71 Fiat 850's. The whole car was recalled for rust. I had 72 850. The local dealer took a torch and cut each Fiat in half. There must have been 10 plus cars cut up in their back lot. They let me pick the cars of any minor parts that I wanted for free!
That comes from improper storage and neglect. If people treated their Ferraris the way they treat Fiats (and I'm guilty too - when the 308 arrived another car had to be pushed out of the garage to live in the weather, and of course it was an X1/9 daily driver) Ferrari would have a reputation every bit as bad.
Having driven over 100,000 miles in various Fiats (mostly Spiders), I can attest to the fact that when they are right, they are very fun and economical cars to own and enjoy. I think that the majority of those that bought Fiat's new 1) Did not do their own work, 2) Took their cars back for warrante work that was attempted by incompetent dealerships that were used to working on Buicks, 3) Did not have the financial resources to keep the cars well maintained. Just like Ferrari, when a Fiat is bad, its very bad; but when its good, its very good.
No doubt Fiats of 30 years ago had reliabilty quality issues. Pretty much history. That aside, I think I saw that x1/9 on ebay. IIRC it's a shipwreck parts car?
my needles still look good at 171K kms and 32 years (but not perfect), but just in case - I just bought a NOS cluster! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Alfas did the same thing, too. Many a GTV6 tach is stuck, the needle having run aground into the gauge face.
Is a FIAT made in Italy? 'Nuff said. Italian cars are, shall we all say, temperamental? On the flip side, I have been around two extremely reliable FIATs. When I was 23, I dated a girl who had a yellow 124 convertible. I flew to Vancouver, Washington where she was for the summer and off we went with the Fiat 124....into Canada back road and all. We drove into Vancouver and Victoria, Canada and then back down the west coast. Washington, Mt. Hood, Mt Ranier, Oregon and into California. Stayed in the Redwood forest for a night. Down through San Francisco, Carmel and all the way back to Palos Verdes. A 10 day trip without a single problem. Great car!
My old FIAT spider could run for ten days in a row, too. And yes, it was the memorable exception to my ownership experience. Matt
We had one too - almost same exact situation, the front wheel fell off while driving...YIKES! Car looked great, but was anemic power-wise, and quality was suspect at best.
Had a friend who drove the piss out of anything he got his hands on. He had a '74 124 spider that was unkillable, and man he did try! He flipped it almost completely over into a ditch...had the tow truck right it, and drove it a little over a mile to his house. Amazing car.
I had several FIATs in the 60s and early 70s: 600, 850 (x2), 124, 126, 131(x2). They all had problems with corrosion, and needed attention after a few months on that issue. FIAT was among the last car makers to adopt galvanised panels, and the rot used to set in in some vulnerable points on the chassis. The constant fight against rust discouraged many FIAT owners to buy another one. I was told that Italy had problem sourcing steel, and was using mostly imported scrap metal in its car industry. Hence the low grade steel obtained and the poor quality of metal panels used to make cars. On almost all FIATs, the gearbox had to be warm to work proeprly. Going from 1rd to 2nd gear was almost impossible when cold (like minus 0), but the gearbox was a dream if hot. One of the best gearbox on the market then. Changing gearbox oil grade didn't fix the problem. I think it was due to tight tolerances on the gearbox shaft. Almost all FIATs I had had problems starting when very cold. I used to remove the plug and put them in the kitchen oven for 10mins if the temp was below zero. Then, no problem. Changing plugs didn't improve things: they needed to be hot. I am sure that modern FIATs aren't like that anymore, but I haven't been tempted to buy one since.